Legacy of A Scorpion
by Prophetella
Summary: Turtletots & Hidden messages leads to new Names for the Dark Turtles. Based solely on the TMNT:FF episode "DNA is Thicker than Water" and internet research, with HTML links for research told in the story. Rated T for mention of premeditated Assassination


Warning: References TMNT: FF episode "DNA is Thicker than Water" and speculates as to why 'the Scorpion story' was relayed to Dark Leo when Leonardo despised it so. (Actually, many animal pairs could have been used in that fable. The African Proverb is directly from a TMNT_Tuesday prompt).  
Pairing: Memories, Dark Turtles and hidden messages.  
Rating: PG (For ninjas being ninjas?) Also, it looks much better on dA at URL fav(dot)me/d2zna58  
Disclaimer: Still not mine and freely shared- Feel free to use the Names selected or the links to find better possible names!

They all remembered the day Splinter brought home the book of Native Cultural folklore but the African proverb that he picked as a full days lesson became one of the clearest memories they all had of childhood. "Every morning in Africa, Gazelles wake up. They know they must run faster than the fastest lion or they will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up knowing it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running." Each of them could remember the echoing hush as Splinter finished reading and urged them all to draw pictures to go with it.

Leonardo drew a few scribbles he interpreted as the lion pack hunting together because one slow lion could not get enough to eat, yet many lions could corner a meal easily. Raphael reluctantly revealed his image of four brightly colored gazelles teaching each other to be faster so the lions couldn't get them. Michelangelo eagerly showed off his comic of being the lazy lion who got by on scraps from the others since that meant not killing the gazelles who might become their friends after all. The small scuffle over the stupidity of the idea between Raphael and Michelangelo remained an unclear memory. However, knowing Raphael's voice made an almost detailed soundtrack engrain on the vague images prior to Splinter regaining control of his classroom.

A momentary look of frustration, fading into a relieved smile followed, as Splinter found Donatello with two pictures; one of each animal in the proverb. Donatello held up the two pictures before he said, "It is better to be the fastest lion than the fastest gazelle because the lion can help provide for its family and the fastest gazelle abandoned his family to be eaten." The cowardly gazelles huddled as if in shame in one picture, looking away from a yellow and red shape. The lion held its head high as it brought a gazelle leg back to four smaller lions (each with a little mane in the boys' colors). Splinter declared that they would discuss these ideas over lunch and then return to learn the colors of these animals, the signs of their maturity and the reasons each is the color it actually grows to wear.

The memories made them angry every time they surfaced because they had _never_ sat looking up at Splinter with adoring eyes, tummies well fed as they discussed the mornings lecture. They didn't even know how the rat father considered them beyond foul monsters formed of the twisted DNA stolen from his beloved four sons. The four copies never thought there might have been other mornings, discussing other stories, until one of them came to stay with the four originals and their rat father. He'd been disappointed to learn that his original had been a slow enough gazelle to lose a portion of his shell in one battle, but amazed that they had lived years while still smaller. To answer one final question posed by the one who _wore_ blue rather than actually being colored blue, he triggered the attack as he claimed the stronger creature from the original's story and led his brothers of red, yellow and purple skin tones out with only a bonsai tree for the effort.

He waited for the other three to go scavenging food when Darius disappeared for a few days, before accessing the computer to discover what a scorpion actually looked like. The insect was armored, ugly and only tiny pinchers meant they were really deadly.

Disgusted, he looked up frogs instead. The computer stopped displaying images after it hit human maximum input. However, his artificial eye allowed him to take note of the ones who matched not only their original's various shades of green but some that matched his own and his brother's strange tones.

Beautiful, vibrant and deadly poisonous to anyone fool enough to even try to lick one, the less the creatures hid and brighter the color, the more deadly the venom of their skin. The species named even sounded as lyrical as familiar famed namesakes did. Somehow, he knew that the original mutants meant him to discover this information. Something that looked similar to his own skin tone carried the name Azureus. He whispered it hungrily into the silence around him. The word strawberry caught his eye and he found a brilliant red species named Pumilo. He printed two nametags with the right colors.

Specifying the search to sort by color, he got dissuaded momentarily after reading the information for the purple frog. He told the computer the story and got assaulted by numerous variations featuring many different creatures, only a picture of a black creature stinging thin, green skin in a river brought up any interpretation.

The rat father _had spoken_ of the strength in helpfulness and creativity and healing. So, the choice of animal they wished him to emulate followed unsubtly obvious. The story seemed to have no set meaning, although the image mocked him as Darius returned, herding his brothers while inside black armor. He quickly hid the readfile of results in his shoulder armor with the two selected nametags and blanked the computer screen.

As they huddled away from the gleeful report of the disappearance of the armoring robot and their originals, items shuffled between the colorful four out of earshot. A smear of honey applied both nameplates already printed before he passed the readfile and began to eat his share. The purple one had to help sound out yellow adorned species as the long tongue tripped upon discovering that the Chiasmocleis panamensis' discoverer was a Stephen Troyte Dunn. "Mocleis… hey! I like that," the yellow-skinned clone grinned around at the others for finding his own name.

The three-clawed hand at the end of a purple arm tapped a genus from the first selected namesakes in a slicing motion. "Dendro," the flatly smug eyes turned to them until Dunn began his rant about a new plan to hurt his nephew. "Azureus, we're still just Darius' frogs." Dendro deleted the dart frog list with a growl and the readfile display flickered with colorful ribbons spelling the word 'ninja' as the scorpion in the earlier image faded to red. Donatello's renamed clone looked up at them startled, "This image contains a readfile virus."

Pumilio's warning of Dunn's approach broke the ribbon letters of ninja into four colored lines that framed one sentence before black filled in to leave a dozen tiny words darker. **Will the frog drop the scorpion in the water to eat it?** The change faded into nothingness almost too symbolically.

Darius Dun towered over them an instant later, "Are you four morons listening? This is prime time to strike! Kill Cody and prove yourselves for once! I spent good money on you four vindictively." Azureus turned an icy glaze on the hateful man in dark armor. His face flickered in thought, eyes avoiding the readfile tucked in the shadow of Pumilio's shell.

He drew a defiant breath then snapped out arrogantly, "I'd rather eat black scorpions!" Darius' face turned scarlet.

"Fine then, that is ALL I will provide until you obey me! I hear the fat-tailed ones taste good crisped." The others looked at him, aghast. Even the rare steak to share must taste better than stinging bugs. Darius stepped out of his armor to place the order as they crowded around their leader for explanations.

He waited until Dun noisily ordered an evening delivery. "An assassin taught me to share my meals and we do sleep in natural armor." They shut up nicely after that and waited for their second meal of the day while planning a food fight.


End file.
